The business world has become a more complex and more global mechanism over the past several years. As this has taken place, government oversight of businesses has also taken on greater importance. Regulating business in a modern era has created a greater focus on white collar crimes, which have become more sophisticated and more encompassing in scope than ever before.
White collar crimes can encompass a variety of situations ranging from violating securities laws, antitrust laws, embezzlement, fraud, environmental law, bribery, tax evasion and even corruption.
Defending against white collar crimes requires a particularly versatile legal team who must have defense skills in a broad range of areas. Their expertise must extend to civil as well as criminal law and they must be able to find ways to reduce or eliminate a business’s or an individual’s liability. Part of what a good law firm will do is also assess how much exposure a business will have in determining how to best remedy a situation. Finally, part of a defense strategy will also attempt to determine how a company’s relationship with government agencies and regulatory bodies will change as a result of criminal or civil legal actions.
Perhaps the single most important factor in a white collar crime case is what the defendant’s intent was regarding the actions they took. If it can be shown the person or the business was out to intentionally lie or deceive a client or the public, then defending them can be a significantly more challenging undertaking. However, if it can be shown that the actions were honest mistakes, then some leniency may be part of the outcome. This is important because the stakes in a white collar crime are high, with long prison sentences becoming the norm as the government has cracked down on offenders.
Decker & Jones serves clients in Denver, Golden and communities throughout Jefferson County, Colorado.